The Sharpie Blog: Where we share the amazing stuff people do with Sharpie

Post navigation

Heather and Lola answer your Sharpie questions

Meet Heather Cooper and Lola Walker, the Sharpie Answer Girls! Heather and Lola work in Sharpie’s consumer affairs department. They answer more questions in a day than the mother of a two-year-old!

“We get some pretty interesting questions,” Heather says, “some that even we can’t answer – and we probably know more about Sharpie than anybody : ) I think everybody who works on a brand should work in the consumer affairs department first. It’s really the best way to find out just what makes a brand tick with consumers.” (Note to Sharpie brand managers: do a rotation there.)

“Most of the calls and emails we get are positive,” Lola says. “People want to know where to buy a certain type of Sharpie in their area, or whether a Sharpie is permanent on glass (Sharpie markers are permanent on most surfaces). But every once in awhile we get somebody with a problem, and it’s our job to come up with the solution. Sometimes it’s a challenge, like solving a Sodoku puzzle. But that’s why we’re here!”

Heather and Lola will be here on the Sharpie Blog every Friday with answers to your questions, like this one from Beverly in New Mexico.

Q: I notice some Sharpie markers have the ACMI seal on the barrel that says non-toxic. Does this mean I can use them on skin?

Beverly, NM

Beverly,

That is a great question because we know consumers use Sharpie markers in creative ways. Some girls want to know if it is safe for use as bold eyeliner and others want to darken those old tattoos we talked ourselves into in our college days. We love that people use the product but we ultimately want everyone to be safe. Although the markers have been tested and are safe for art use by children and adults, we express caution and do not suggest using Sharpie markers on skin.

As for the labeling, ACMI stands for the Art and Creative Materials Institute. The ACMI is an organization that helps companies provide consumers with art materials for children and artists that are non-toxic. All products are required to undergo an extensive toxicological evaluation in order to be eligible to bear the ACMI seal. To learn more about the ACMI certification, visit http://acminet.org/. If you find yourself in the middle of filling in that tattoo right now, or just noticed your child marked her arm, you can apply some baby oil to the skin and wash it all away with soap and water. The oil will help gently loosen the pigments and the soap and water will wash it all away. We want you to use Sharpie markers and have fun doing it, but we encourage you to be safe and use only products designed and tested for use on skin when it comes to your eyeliner and tattoos!

Hello. We are Artists working in Greensboro, NC. We are big fans of your products and use Sharpie markers every day. We wanted to share with you a project we did in January as part of a National Competition for Ducati Motorcycles. The project was to customize a 2009 Ducati Monster for our local Dealership. We decided to draw all over the bike’s bodywork with red and black Sharpie markers. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but everyone who saw the bike was blown away by the results! I am including a link to some photos of the bike:

Hello. We are Artists working in Greensboro, NC. We are big fans of your products and use Sharpie markers every day. We wanted to share with you a project we did in January as part of a National Competition for Ducati Motorcycles. The project was to customize a 2009 Ducati Monster for our local Dealership. We decided to draw all over the bike’s bodywork with red and black Sharpie markers. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but everyone who saw the bike was blown away by the results! I am including a link to some photos of the bike:

Hello. We are Artists working in Greensboro, NC. We are big fans of your products and use Sharpie markers every day. We wanted to share with you a project we did in January as part of a National Competition for Ducati Motorcycles. The project was to customize a 2009 Ducati Monster for our local Dealership. We decided to draw all over the bike’s bodywork with red and black Sharpie markers. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but everyone who saw the bike was blown away by the results! I am including a link to some photos of the bike:

Hello. We are Artists working in Greensboro, NC. We are big fans of your products and use Sharpie markers every day. We wanted to share with you a project we did in January as part of a National Competition for Ducati Motorcycles. The project was to customize a 2009 Ducati Monster for our local Dealership. We decided to draw all over the bike’s bodywork with red and black Sharpie markers. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but everyone who saw the bike was blown away by the results! I am including a link to some photos of the bike:

Hello. We are Artists working in Greensboro, NC. We are big fans of your products and use Sharpie markers every day. We wanted to share with you a project we did in January as part of a National Competition for Ducati Motorcycles. The project was to customize a 2009 Ducati Monster for our local Dealership. We decided to draw all over the bike’s bodywork with red and black Sharpie markers. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but everyone who saw the bike was blown away by the results! I am including a link to some photos of the bike:

Hello. We are Artists working in Greensboro, NC. We are big fans of your products and use Sharpie markers every day. We wanted to share with you a project we did in January as part of a National Competition for Ducati Motorcycles. The project was to customize a 2009 Ducati Monster for our local Dealership. We decided to draw all over the bike’s bodywork with red and black Sharpie markers. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but everyone who saw the bike was blown away by the results! I am including a link to some photos of the bike:

Hello. We are Artists working in Greensboro, NC. We are big fans of your products and use Sharpie markers every day. We wanted to share with you a project we did in January as part of a National Competition for Ducati Motorcycles. The project was to customize a 2009 Ducati Monster for our local Dealership. We decided to draw all over the bike’s bodywork with red and black Sharpie markers. Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but everyone who saw the bike was blown away by the results! I am including a link to some photos of the bike:

My son had written all over his arm with a purple sharpie. When I picked him up after playing outside, he of course was all sweaty and placed his arm on the car door arm rest. It was a couple of hours before I noticed it so it had time to dry and bake in the sun. So my question is … how can I remove permanent sharpie ink from the inside of a car door arm rest? The arm rest is hard plastic with pores.

I just want to share with you my “dream Sharpie.” Imagine a Sharpie extra fine point marker, with water based ink, encased in the in the same casing as the iconic Sharpie fine point. Pen heaven! (I write in cursive, and the new “everyday” pen is a bit too thin and hard for me to read).

For now, I switch between a rollerball for detailed writing and a fine point Sharpie for post-it notes, signing correspondence, and other tasks where a little bolder stroke is required (plus, I just really like the aesthetics of the Sharpie fine point case). I like the case so much I use the yellow and blue fine points as highlighters.

If anyone reading this comment shares my affinity for the fine point case, please drop a comment and let others know! Peace.

I went to a concert lastnight and got the back of my iPod touched autographed. When I got home, I noticed it was already rubbing off in certain places. Obviously I want to avoid this as much as possible while still being able to put my iPod in my pocket, purse, etc.

i enjoy the fine tip sharpies as well,
i draw fashion designs and once i draw something in pencil i use watercolor pencils to get the effects and color bends that i want- when im finish i outline the body parts and face with the black fine tip sharpie! i bought some yesterday, total nessecity! i love how it doesn’t blend/smear when i comes in contact with the (usually still damp) watercolor!

i’m doing research on ways to remove sharpies from cotton – and why those removers work – i enjoyed the tip about amodex ~ i’ll check it out!
thanks guys
(/|)

I want to throw a question into the ether to see if anyone has some ideas.

I’m a (starving) artist, who has found his calling in the sharpie media. I’ve recently been commissioned to add my own sharpie spin on some plain white apparel (couple of tote bags and some white vans–sharpie dream, right?).

I’ve gotten the premier project finished and I obviously want to make sure it lasts for a good long while. I’ve considered scotch gaurd, the do-all, cover-all sealant but I don’t know if it’s enough or really how that’s going to interact with think ink. Any one have any ideas? Looking forward to hearing them

Caleb-
Sharpie on canvas material typically stays bright for very long time without any type of guard (and assuming you arent running it through the was htoo much). However, I hear the scotch gaurd is the way to go in terms of sealant, just be careful because the ink may run a little bit. Try testing a small area first and worknig from there. *Hope this helps

My daughter is doing an 8th Grade Science project on Sharpie permananet markers. She is experimenting with various colored markers on various materials [China (an ironstone plate), plastic & metal]. She is trying to determine if different colors have different degrees of “permancy” (are some colors more “permanent” than others); and she is trying to see if treating the various colors/marks with alcohol results in different removal characteristics with differing colors and materials.

One question that has arisen is: what are the Sharpies made of – if that’s not a trade secret, can you tell us what that would be. Also, are different colors made up of different chemicals that would result in differing degrees of permancy?

My son is an artist and used a black sharpie to draw on his brand new red ll bean rolling backpack. Not sure of fabric content, but it has a canvas like front side and a slick waterproof inside. I don’t want to damage the front of the backpack. I’ve tried Mr. Clean Eraser, Goo Gone, toothpaste and hairspray. He is quite upset about it as he takes pride in his work, but messed this up. I think it looks great, but it’s not up to his expectations and we need help removing it so he can go to school without shame for what he considers a mess up. Will Amodex be the answer? Thank you!

A lot of posts on the internet offer solutions for removing sharpie permanent marker from fabrics, but they all end with throwing it in the washer as the final step. This backpack cannot be thrown in the washer; it is more like a roll on suitcase. (Just clarifying) You can go to the ll bean website and see it; it’s the ultimate rolling backpack in red with a silver reflector stripe.

My 4 year old got a hold of a sharpie black marker, and decided to be creative and wrote on her sisters brand new comforter. Needless to say that she was extreemly upset. Please tell me if there is a way to remove the marks? Much Aloha and Mahalo.

Had a super bowl party yesterday for a group of 80 and 90 year old women. Alas! We discovered sharpie on a red tablecloth. Hair spray or Amodex to get it out? We love sharpies but not on the tablecloth. Thanks for your help.

I’ve discovered a way to remove sharpie ink from most surfaces. My 3 year old daughter decided to create a masterpiece on my whiteboard using permanent sharpie marker instead of the the erasable markers wich were meant for whiteboard use. I tried to correct her by drawing a big line across the whole surface of the whiteboard with the erasable marker, to my surprise I discovered that it completely removed the permanent markers ink from the surface as if magic. I was so excited that I went around the house to remove the previous sharpie boo boos from the wall, coffee table, refriderator etc. it really worked, especially on the smooth surfaces.